Lost and Found
by tripwatcher2
Summary: John and Teyla are stranded together in the cold. Ooooooh, whatever will they do to keep warm? Romantic fluff. Rated M for possible future chapters.


_Author's Note: This is pure romance and fluff. I love the technical stuff and adventure on the show but would mangle it terribly if I tried to write it._

Lost and Found

John was colder than he could ever remember being in his entire life. He quieted his own teeth chattering and could hear Teyla's teeth chattering even worse from where she lay a few feet away. He rose to one elbow and looked across the small campfire. _"Teyla."_ She looked up at him, blinking slowly, her small body buried in her sleeping bag. John could tell she was shivering terribly.

"_Come here_", he told her gruffly. "_We're both going to freeze to death before McKay comes up with a brilliant way to find us if we don't find a way to bring our body temperatures up."_ Teyla was too cold to argue. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and wrapped her blanket tightly around her shoulders. John proceeded to zip both bags together making them into one large sleeping bag then he folded back one corner and indicated for her to get in.

Once she was situated, he crawled into the bag as well and zipped it up all around them. Then he turned to his side facing her. Teyla started working until she had her blanket over both of them inside the sleeping bag.

"_Roll over"_ he said more sternly than he had planned. She obliged quickly but he couldn't tell from the look on her face what she was thinking. He scooted up close behind her, molding his body to hers. He wrapped his right arm around her waist and she raised her head so that he could snake his left arm under it to pillow her head. She quickly put her small socked feet between his calves and he chuckled. It was a good thing he had on pants because he knew her feet were as cold as ice.

After a few minutes, he felt her shivering begin to subside and then he heard her quiet voice ask him _"Would you be doing this if you were stranded with Rodney or Ronan?"_ He laughed out loud at that. He was glad to hear her teasing him. It let him know that she was feeling better and that she was still the same old Teyla – his Teyla.

"_You know, I really don't see myself spooning with either one of them"_, he said laughingly. _"Spooning?"_ she asked. John though about it a moment and then replied _"Yeah, you know, when you fit together like two spoons in a drawer."_

"_Oh"_, she said softly. Many of the words that the people from Earth used sounded odd to her but John was always quick to explain things so that they made sense to her. She found the way he expressed things to be very entertaining and imaginative.

They lay together like that for a few minutes longer and then his curiosity got the better of him. Maybe it was the deadly cold or the fact that they were alone with little hope of making it back to Atlantis any time soon, but he decided he wanted to know more about this wonderful, enigmatic woman before it was too late. _"Have you ever spooned with anyone before, Teyla?"_

She hesitated briefly and then said _"I have not slept closely beside anyone since I was a child – since my mother was taken by the Wraith."_ He instantly regretted mentioning anything that would bring up painful memories for her. _"Oh Teyla"_, he said softly. _"I'm sorry…for asking such...a personal question"_. She rolled back over until she was facing him and looked up into his eyes. "_No, do not be sorry"_, she said with sadness in her eyes. _"It was a long time ago_."

"_Yeah, but losing a parent is something you never quite get over."_ Something in the way he said it told her that he was speaking from experience. How sad that we have that in common, she thought to herself.

"_You never talk about your family, John."_ She looked at him intently and placed her hand on his upper arm. "_There's not much to tell – I haven't got any really. The people on Atlantis are the closest thing to a family I have. Sometimes it scares me how much I care about them."_

It came out of her mouth before she even realized it. _"Does that include me? Do you care for me?"_ For a moment she was afraid he wasn't going to answer and she held her breath, regretting that she had asked such a question, that she sounded so needy.

Her heart began to beat faster as she saw the stricken look on his face and a deep sadness overtook her as she came to the quick conclusion that he did not care about her – at least not the way she hoped. Her head dropped and she began to roll over again, away from him.

He caught her arm, keeping her there, facing him. "_Teyla, I…I…I love you."_ He said it so softly and then continued when she merely stared at him in shock. _"I think I've been in love with you since the first time I ever saw you...on Athos. You took my breath away. But I…I just…I don't know what to do about it. You're under my command, you're my responsibility. I don't want my feelings to put you or anyone else in jeopardy."_

"_I understand_." She whispered it sadly but she truly did understand. Since becoming the leader of her people, there were many times when she had been required to put her personal feelings aside and make some very hard decisions. "_I do not wish to make your job any more difficult than it already is. Let us say goodnight then."_

This time she did roll over to face away from him but he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist again, holding her in place with her back pressed firmly to his chest. Seconds passed and then she heard his husky plea. "_Let me hold you tonight, Teyla."_

Teyla let a single tear roll down her face, then turned into him and felt him wrap her in his strong arms. Never in her life had she felt so safe, so comforted! It was an incredible feeling for someone who had lived their life in constant fear as she had. He tucked her head under his chin and she could hear his steady heartbeat with her ear pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and rubbed her back lightly.

"_I love you too, John."_ It was only a whisper from her lips but he heard it and it rocked him to the core, making his heart skip a beat. He pulled back slightly to look down at her. She felt this and tipped her head back to look into his eyes, then down at his mouth just inches from hers.

She saw him bite his bottom lip in hesitation and then his mouth lowered onto hers, slowly. She opened to him immediately, hungry for his taste. She ran her tongue along that same lip he had held between his teeth seconds before, and he moaned low in his throat. Liquid fire shot through her and came to rest low in her belly. She was hot and cold all at the same time and marveled at how just his kiss could make her feel this incredible.

Suddenly, John's headset crackled to life with a burst of static and they both jumped. Faintly, they could hear Major Lorne's voice _"Colonel Sheppard, please respond. This is Major Lorne. Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, please respond."_ John just looked at Teyla for a moment and then reached above his head to retrieve the squawking headset from where it lay on the ground. His eyes never left Teyla's as he spoke into the mouthpiece. _"This is Sheppard"_ he replied in a husky voice.

They could hear a burst of celebratory cheers in the background when Lorne spoke again. _"Good to hear your voice, sir. Are you and Teyla alright?"_ John's mouth quirked up on one side and then Teyla began to grin. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck and just as he was about to respond to Lorne's question, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He deepened the kiss instantly and moaned when she drew her knee up the outside of his thigh to his hip. _"Colonel? Colonel, are you injured? Please respond! We have you on sensors and we'll be there in a moment. Colonel, Teyla, if you can hear me, please respond!"_

They broke apart again, breathing a little heavy, and this time it was Teyla who spoke into the small microphone. _"We are fine, Major, but are very glad to hear from you. I was just thinking how good my warm bed back on Atlantis would be about now."_ John's eyes widened in surprise at her cheekiness and his eyebrows waggled suggestively as he grinned at her. She returned the grin and then began to rise as they heard the distinctive sound of the puddle jumper nearing their position.

When she was free of John's arms and the sleeping bag, she began pulling on her boots and looked over to see John watching her while lacing his own boots. He winked at her and she blushed slightly, trying to keep the smile from her face. They quickly began packing their gear in companionable silence and were almost finished when Major Lorne, along with Ronon and two marines came trudging into the small clearing.

"_Colonel! Teyla! Glad we finally found you. You guys okay? It's freezing out here!"_ John and Teyla glanced at each other and then John replied. _"Yeah, we're fine. What the hell happened?" _Lorne responded _"McKay said there was a 'gate malfunction of some kind but you'll have to get the technical explanation from him - I'm no good with the scientific gobbledy-gook. It took him and Zelenka a while to narrow down the address you guys were sent to. And we're still not able to use the 'gate so we came as fast as we could in the jumper." _

Lorne looked around their little campsite. _"I guess it's a good thing you were already planning an overnight stay so that you had some gear with you. But I'm sorry you didn't get to see your people, Teyla. They've been worried about you but I radio'd Colonel Carter and she's going to let them know you're okay." _Teyla nodded her head in thanks, but didn't speak. She also kept her head down while continuing to pack and extinguish the small fire she had built earlier. A small, secret smile hovered on her mouth and every time she did glance up, her eyes immediately honed in on John.

While Lorne and John continued to talk, Ronon regarded Teyla quietly. She and John seemed…..different somehow. He was picking up on some strange feelings coming from both of them. It wasn't until he saw a tender, flirty look pass between them as they began shouldering their gear, that he realized what had changed. They were acting like they were in love! Not that it was outright and blatant for just anyone to pick up on, but as a very observant person who was good at reading people's body language, Ronon could tell. Someway, somehow, they had finally "hooked up" as he liked to tease John that they would someday. It had finally happened – Ronon was sure of it.

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_TBC? Let me know if you want to see what happens when they get back to Atlantis – and I may add some Ronon/Keller if it fits. Please leave a review!_


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